ATIKU’S “OPEN THE BORDERS” PROMISE: THE FACTS SAY NIGERIA’S BORDERS ARE ALREADY OPEN
Addressing Atiku's misinformation on border closure by Dr Sunday Dare
8/31/20262 min read
Let us stay with the facts, not political slogans.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has said that if elected in 2027, he would “reopen” Nigeria’s land borders. But there is an important question Nigerians should ask: which borders exactly is he talking about?
The historical record is clear.
Nigeria’s land borders were largely closed in 2019 as part of measures to combat smuggling and the illegal movement of goods, weapons and other contraband. But that was not the end of the story.
On 16 December 2020, the Federal Government ordered the reopening of four major land border posts: Seme in Lagos, Illela in Sokoto, Maigatari in Jigawa and Mfum in Cross River.
In April 2022, four additional border posts were approved for reopening: Idiroko in Ogun, Jibiya in Katsina, Kamba in Kebbi and Ikom in Cross River.
And the process has continued.
In February 2026, the Tinubu administration approved the resumption of cross-border commercial movement through the Tsamiya corridor between Nigeria and Benin Republic, while the Kamba corridor facilitated movement between Nigeria and Niger Republic. The reopening was specifically designed to facilitate legitimate trade while maintaining security and compliance requirements.
So when we discuss Nigeria's borders, we must distinguish between border closure and border management.
A border can be open without being uncontrolled.
In fact, that is exactly what responsible border management is supposed to achieve.
Nigeria cannot afford a situation where the legitimate trader, farmer, transporter and business owner is prevented from conducting lawful cross-border commerce, while criminals exploit poorly monitored routes to move arms, drugs, trafficked persons or operate across national boundaries.
That is why open borders must go hand in hand with strong security institutions.
At our borders, we need the Nigeria Immigration Service, Nigeria Customs Service, Police, military and other relevant security and intelligence agencies working together. We need proper documentation, surveillance, intelligence-sharing, customs enforcement and technology.
OPEN DOES NOT MEAN UNCONTROLLED.
An open border allows legitimate economic activity to take place. A properly managed border ensures that criminals do not take advantage of that openness.
This is particularly important because Nigeria shares extensive land frontiers with Benin Republic, Niger Republic, Chad and Cameroon, and insecurity in the wider Sahel has made effective border management a national-security priority.
Therefore, the debate should not be reduced to the simplistic political slogan: “I will reopen the borders.”
The more important questions are:
Which border posts are you claiming are closed?
What restrictions would you remove?
What security measures would you retain?
How would you prevent arms trafficking, terrorism, smuggling and human trafficking?
How would you improve legitimate cross-border trade without creating new security vulnerabilities?
Those are the questions Nigerians deserve answers to.
The facts show that Nigeria has progressively reopened major land crossings since 2020, with additional crossings reopened in 2022 and further border corridors opened under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2026. The Federal Government's current position is that Nigeria's land borders are not simply “closed” and waiting for a future president to reopen them.
Of course, this does not mean that every single crossing is completely unrestricted. Some locations can remain subject to tighter controls because of specific security threats. That is not necessarily evidence of a national border closure; it can be a deliberate security decision.
This is why border management should not become an arena for political misinformation.
Nigeria needs borders that are open to legitimate trade, but closed to terrorists, criminals, traffickers and illegal arms dealers.
We should facilitate commerce without sacrificing national security.
We should make it easier for legitimate businesses to operate while making it harder for criminal networks to operate.
That is the balance responsible government must achieve.
So, ATIKU CANNOT SIMPLY PRESENT “REOPENING THE BORDERS” AS A NEW POLICY WITHOUT ACKNOWLEDGING THAT MAJOR BORDER REOPENINGS HAVE ALREADY TAKEN PLACE.
The real question is not whether Nigeria should have open borders.
The real question is:
HOW DO WE KEEP OUR BORDERS OPEN FOR LEGITIMATE TRADE WHILE KEEPING NIGERIANS SAFE?
That is the serious policy conversation Nigeria deserves.
— Dr. Sunday Dare
Spokesperson to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu